In a blog on his MySpace, King Diamond is setting some facts straight, regarding to the interview he did for a Danish newspaper just before Christmas:

"The second rumour that's floating around, which is that Mercyful Fate has started writing new material, I really have no idea where it originated from. The present status of Mercyful Fate remains unchanged, meaning that we have not started writing new material. For that to happen, Mercyful Fate's recording contracts have to be renegotiated first. We certainly would love for this to happen so that we can finally make our long overdue "masterpiece". Both guitarist Hank Shermann and I are ready to go if that scenario presents itself, and who knows, that might happen this year.

So... for this year, you will see a double DVD of old private King Diamond video recordings and a double DVD of old private Mercyful Fate video recordings which I am working on as we speak. Guitarist Andy La Rocque has finished remastering "The Graveyard", "Spider's Lullabye", "Voodoo", and "House of God", all of which should also be available this year. And then there is "the big surprise" (not little King babies with horns on their foreheads or Mercyful Fate writing new songs, at least not as we speak) but something that could lead to renegotiations of the Mercyful Fate recording deals. We'll see. Be patient... On a personal note, I do feel reasonably confident that the Mercyful Fate masterpiece will see the light of day."